Since then, more than 1,500 copies have been sold/downloaded. I can't believe the amount and support and love I've received this past year. It only makes me want to keep going.
If you haven't read it yet, it's now available on the iBookstore for free. Here's a downloadable PDF as well :)
This story will always be very near and dear to my heart and you guys have made it all the more worthwhile :).
Tritely put, the summer season is probably one of the best times to catch up on reading. There's just something about the balmy heat and the breeze sweeping across our faces that lulls us into succumbing to our own imaginations. And what better way is there than to pick up a good book and get lost in it?
June 1st will mark one year since my first book was published. Since then, I've managed to release 4 more publications, all of which have sold over 100 copies each. For an independent author, that's more than I could have ever dreamed.
This comes as no surprise that I love to write. But what excites me more is someone reading what I've written and loving it. So, as I meticulously compose The Trail's End and form it for its release this fall, I want people to read my work, get lost in the words, the characters, learn about my inspiration.
Add these to your summer reading list - you won't be disappointed :)
Two estranged sisters. One sneaky groom. A blood-stained wedding dress. And a mute teenager who witnesses it all.
WHEN TRUE LOVE COMES IN THE FORM OF A FLYING BEER BOTTLE.
When Brandon Greene, an oatmeal-skinned junior from upstate New York, drunkenly hurls a beer bottle at an unsuspecting, brown-skinned Natalie Chandler, both their worlds are changed indefinitely.
Brandon makes his intentions clear from the beginning: he is hopelessly in love with his girlfriend, Sophia, but does not want to marry her. He does, however, want to be friends with Natalie.
Neither Brandon nor her curiosities about him make sense to her at all, and her complacency begins to tumble, as she and Brandon grow closer. She's thrust into a love triangle that she wants no part of and suddenly, a streamlined future to success in the medical field is the last thing on her mind — all she sees now is a shade of gray. Brandon and Natalie have a powerful dynamic; but can it stand the weight that time, spatial disparity and color have placed on them? When You Come to Me is a sometimes humorous, sometimes dramatic take on the loss of innocence in its most colorful form.
I am exceptionally fond of this story. I've written countless pieces, and each have meant something to me. But there will always be something about the characters in this novel that will always touch me.
Brandon and Natalie are quite normal in the grand scheme of things: they're both young and attractive, they both come from large, tight-knit families, they're both strong-minded and intelligent.
But what sets them apart?
Of course there's the obvious: one is white and one is black. One comes from the North and one comes from the South.
But what else?
I've read my fair share of love stories and have even experienced love in a realistic form. But the thing that makes Brandon Greene and Natalie Chandler so different is that their dynamic felt real.
The most common feedback I've gotten from readers is that Brandon and Natalie, despite their obvious flaws, never lost sight of each other. Their believable, tangible chemistry had everyone rooting for them in the end.
I ultimately wanted their relationship to be successful, but I wanted it to be as realistic as possible.
It was never about the destination per se, but more so about their journey.
Natalie had to grow, had to learn how to love a man, had to adapt to change better. Brandon needed to be more patient and understanding of her needs, Brandon needed to find himself altogether.
In the novel, their love stretches a span of 8 years. And while some have complained that the story was "too long", I wanted it to be that way. I wanted the readers to become a part of their lives, empathize with them, become them.
With that, I present to you a free, updated version of When You Come to Me.
[polldaddy poll=5913878]
And that’s an amazing thing to remember…
My novel, my baby, my love, When You Come to Me, not only highlights thrilling difficulties and blatant uncertainties of a first love, but it was my first completed novel. It was a wealthy composite of the things and people I’ve held near and dear my entire life.
And, to be perfectly honest, my biggest fear in writing it was that people wouldn’t understand it or wouldn’t like it or wouldn’t read it. I’m sure that’s one of the biggest obstacles that new authors face.
But once it was published, I was astonished at the reception I received, and how invested people felt in Brandon and Natalie’s story.
So it only makes sense that I continue my journey with this novel, in hopes of introducing as many new readers as possible.
With that I give you a new (and newly edited) iPad version with illustrations and fresher prose.
Absolutely free.
Enjoy on 5/4/2012 and spread the word :)
CAN'T WAIT AND NEED A PREVIEW? Here you go: Preview